WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM NAMES CHIZ YOUNG GLOBAL
LEADER OF 2008

Senator Chiz Escudero joins 245 leading executives, public figures and intellectuals - all age 40 or younger - chosen from around the world as the prestigious global community of decision makers World Economic Forum picked him as among the Young Global Leaders of 2008 in a formal announcement made in Geneva, Switzerland on March 11.

The Young Global Leader is a yearly honor bestowed to 200-300 young leaders below the age of forty around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the world future.

Escudero joined 245 other awardees which include 121 business leaders and leaders from government, academia, media and society at large from 65 countries representing all regions, including East Asia (64), Europe (58), Middle East and North Africa (12), North America (45), South Asia (24), sub-Saharan Africa (21) and Latin America (21).

"The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a true multi-stakeholder community of global decision makers. We need the Young Global Leaders to be a voice for the future in the global thought process and as a catalyst for initiatives in the global public interest", said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the WEF.

Drawn from a pool of almost 5,000 candidates, the Young Global Leaders 2008 were chosen by a selection committee of 31 eminent international media leaders, including Thomas h. Glocer, CEO Reuters, United Kingdom; Arthur Sulzberger, Chairman and Publisher, The New York Times, USA; Robert Thomson, Publisher, Dow Jones and Co. and the Wall Street Journal, USA; and Hisashi Hieda, Chairman and CEO of Fuji TV Network, Japan. H.M. Queen Rania of Jordan chairs the selection committee.

This year's awardees include Hollywood actor Leonardo Di Caprio, CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper, tennis superstar Stefi Graf, King of Bhutan Jigme Wangchuck, Queen of Morocco Lala Salma, Daniel Shapiro, Director, Harvard Law School and Brendan Hoffman, President and CEO of Neiman Marcus Group, among others.

Current community of Young Global Leaders (YGL) represents over 60 countries and includes Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, Prince Haakon of Norway, malvinder M. Singh, CEO, Ranbaxy Laboratories, India.

David Aikman, Senior Director and Head of Forum of YGL said, "It is our belief that this community of committed individuals can actually change the status quo. They are not only a preview of what effective, collaborative leadership in the 21st century might look like, they are actually putting it into practice today".

Established in 2004, the Forum of Young Global Leaders is a unique multistakeholder community of the world's most extraordinary young leaders, who dedicate a part of their time to jointly address global challenges and who are committed to devote some of their knowledge and energy to collectively work towards a better future. As part of their engagement, the YGL give their time to task forces to initiate, develop and drive innovative solutions on important, globally-oriented issues, including health, education, the environment, global governance and security, and development and poverty.